WNBA
The Seattle Storm selected Bird with the first overall pick of the 2002 WNBA draft. She would play alongside superstar Lauren Jackson who was also drafted first overall the year before. In her rookie season, Bird started all 32 games for the Storm and averaged 14.4 ppg. She was selected as a starter on the 2002 WNBA Western Conference All-Star team. Bird was the runner-up for the Rookie of the Year award and one of only two rookies to make the All-WNBA First Team. Both Bird and Jackson led the Storm to their first playoff appearance. During her first year in the league, Bird scored a career-high 33 points in a regular-season game against the Portland Fire. From 2002 (rookie season) to 2022 (retirement), she made a record 13 appearances playing in the Western Conference All-Star team.
In 2004, the Storm acquired shooting guard Betty Lennox in a dispersal draft, joining Bird and Lauren Jackson to form a dominant trio of star players that helped lead the Storm to its first WNBA Championship. With the WNBA Championship win, Bird became one of 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, Fiba World Cup gold, and a WNBA Championship. The others are Sheryl Swoopes, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, Tamika Catchings, Brittney Griner and fellow Huskies Swin Cash, Kara Wolters, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, and Asjha Jones.
En route to the Storm's second championship, Bird had one of the most clutch moments in WNBA Playoff history; during the Conference Finals against the championship-defending Phoenix Mercury with the Storm up 1–0 in the series, Bird hit a game-winning three-pointer with two seconds left in Game 2 to put the Storm up 91–88, after erasing a 19-point deficit to advance to the 2010 WNBA Finals. Also in Game 1 of the 2010 WNBA Finals, Bird hit a game-winning jump shot with 2 seconds left to put the Storm up 79–77 and would later sweep the series. In 2011, she was voted one of the WNBA's Top 15 Players of All Time by current players and coaches, the media, and fans on the WNBA website.
During the 2012 WNBA season, Bird experienced knee problems, yet she managed to play 29 games throughout the regular season and the playoffs. In the off-season, Bird had knee surgery, which would prevent her from playing the entire 2013 season.
Bird returned for the 2014 WNBA season. That year, she played 33 games, averaged 10.6 ppg and 4.0 apg, and was voted as a WNBA all-star. However, the Storm did not make it to the 2014 playoffs and would also fail to do so the following year.
On February 16, 2016, Bird re-signed with the Storm to a multi-year deal in free agency.
In the 2016 season, Bird would have a resurgence, putting up her best numbers since coming back from knee surgery. She averaged 12.8 ppg while shooting a career-high in 3-point field goal percentage and led the league in assists with 5.8 apg. For the fifth time in her career and the first time in 12 years, Bird was named to the All-WNBA First Team. Prior to the season, the Storm selected Breanna Stewart first overall in the 2016 WNBA draft, their second number one overall pick in a row after drafting Jewell Loyd the year before. With the addition of Stewart and Loyd quickly developing into a star player, the Storm made it back to the playoffs for the first time in 3 years with a 16–18 record. With the WNBA's new playoff format in effect, the Storm were the number 7 seed in the league and faced the Atlanta Dream in the first round, losing the single elimination game 94–85. Bird was also listed in the WNBA Top 20@20, a list of the league's best 20 players ever in celebration of the WNBA's twentieth anniversary.
In April 2017, Bird underwent left knee surgery, which caused her to miss training camp. However, she returned on May 21, 2017, following her recovery and made her season debut, making her both the oldest active player and starter in the WNBA. She scored 9 points and 10 assists in an 81–71 victory over the Washington Mystics. On June 11, 2017, Bird scored a season-high 21 points and 10 assists in a 94–86 loss to the New York Liberty. She was voted into the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her 10th all-star game appearance (tying Tamika Catchings for most all-star game appearances). Bird had set the All-Star Game record for assists with a performance of 8 points and 11 assists for the Western Conference All-Stars team in a 130–121 victory. On September 1, 2017, Bird became the WNBA all-time leader in assists with a career total of 2,600 assists, passing Ticha Penicheiro in a 110–106 overtime loss to the Washington Mystics. She finished the game with 19 points and a season-high 13 assists. Bird would finish off the 2017 season, averaging a career-high in assists per game as the Storm finished 14–19 with the 8th seed in the league. The Storm would lose 79–69 to the Phoenix Mercury in the first-round elimination game.
On July 8, 2018, Bird scored a season-high 21 points in a 97–91 victory over the Washington Mystics. During that game, she became the Storm's all-time leading scorer, passing Lauren Jackson's 6,007 points. On July 19, 2018, Bird was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, passing Tamika Catchings for most all-star appearances. On July 22, 2018, Bird broke yet another record, this time for the most WNBA regular-season games played after she passed Delisha Milton-Jones by playing her 500th game against the Atlanta Dream. By the end of the season, Bird finished with a career-high in assists, field goal shooting, and a new career-high in three-point shooting percentage as the Storm finished as the number 1 seed in the league with a 26–8 record, receiving a double-bye to the semi-finals and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. In the semi-finals, the Storm defeated the Phoenix Mercury in a hard-fought five-game series. The Storm had a 2–0 lead, lost two in a row, and finished the series with a win in game 5 at home. Bird scored a season-high 22 points in game 5. With that win, the Storm would advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2010. They would sweep the Washington Mystics in the Finals, winning their first championship in 8 years.
In August 2018, Sue Bird became vice president of the WNBA players' union. During her term, Bird was a part of the leadership that navigated the WNBA during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and negotiated with the league on how to play the game safely with other teams. As the MNBA worked on the players' contracts, they were united in prioritizing activism and listed their use of social justice messages during games as a top "nonnegotiable". Consequently, Bird's presidency is credited with the WNBA allowing the players to express social justice messages, for example, on jerseys and basketball courts.
In May 2019, Bird needed arthroscopic surgery on her left knee and could not play in either of the Storm's preseason games. She underwent surgery on May 30, missing the remainder of the 2019 season as she recovered. Another key player for the Storm, Breanna Stewart, also missed the 2019 season due to injuries. The Storm still secured a playoff berth, winning their Round 1 matchup of the playoffs without Bird and Stewart. The team, however, was eliminated in the second-round elimination game by the Los Angeles Sparks.
In 2020, Bird returned to play, limited to playing 11 games in the regular season. Due to the pandemic, the season was delayed and shortened to 22 games, with all activities occurring at the IMG Academy in the wubble, the contained Academy area. She had reaggravated her knee during the season, causing her to miss five games. With an active roster, the Storm finished 18–4 with the number 2 seed, receiving a double bye to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, they would sweep the Minnesota Lynx in three games, advancing back to the WNBA Finals for the second time in three years. In the Finals, the Storm would win the championship after defeating the Las Vegas Aces in a three-game sweep, earning Bird her fourth WNBA championship, making her the first player in WNBA history to win a championship in three different decades.
In 2021, Bird re-signed with the Storm on a one-year deal, which allowed her to play her 18th season in the league, moving her past Milton-Jones for most seasons played in the WNBA. During a game against the Los Angeles Sparks in July 2021, Bird surpassed Katie Smith's 6452 career points on the WNBA career scoring list with her first three-pointer, ending the game with 6490 points. She was honored in The W25 list, the WNBA's official list recognizing "the 25 greatest and most influential players in WNBA history", selected to commemorate the league's 25th season (2021).
On June 16, 2022, Bird announced that she would be retiring following the 2022 WNBA season.
On July 23, 2023, Bird's number 10 jersey was retired by the Seattle Storm during a ceremony at Climate Pledge Arena and attended by team owners and former teammates Swin Cash and Lauren Jackson.
